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Polk County proclaims June 2025 Pride Month; organizers outline security plans for large PrideFest
Summary
The Polk County Board of Supervisors proclaimed June 2025 as Pride Month and heard from PrideFest organizers, who said security is their top concern and estimated 130,000–150,000 attendees for the weekend of events.
The Polk County Board of Supervisors on June 1, 2025, proclaimed June 2025 as Pride Month and received a presentation from PrideFest organizers on public-safety planning and event logistics.
The proclamation, read during the supervisors' meeting, said June is “widely recognized across The United States as Pride Month” and referenced the Stonewall events in New York that helped spur the movement. The board presented the proclamation to PrideFest representatives and took a group photo.
Wes Mullins, executive director (PrideFest), told the board the festival is fully funded despite a drop in some corporate sponsorships and said security is the top priority. “Security is the number 1 concern that we have for this festival,” Mullins said. He thanked Polk County Emergency Services and local fire department volunteers for coordinating planning and security, saying local partners had been preparing for more than nine months.
Eric Pingel, identified by Mullins as the festival board chair, outlined the weekend’s schedule: a 5K on Saturday morning, a pet pageant and family- and teen-oriented programming later that day, and a parade Sunday that will run from the Capitol grounds to East Second. Pingel said hotels in the East Village were at full capacity and the organizers expect “about a 130 to a 150,000 people this weekend.”
Mullins also said PrideFest leaders had identified new funding sources after some corporate donors withdrew and credited individual and local support with keeping the festival fully funded. He specifically thanked county emergency services for their partnership in security planning and the local fire department for volunteering vehicles and staff to support parade safety.
The board offered the proclamation and then moved on to the meeting’s scheduled public hearings.
The presentation underscores the county’s role in coordinating public safety for large community events and the financial and logistical planning behind widely attended festivals.
